Rescuers tend to pregnant dolphin during Wellfleet strandings

By Jason Savio

Posted Jan 22, 2020 

WELLFLEET — The International Fund for Animal Welfare’s marine mammal rescue team was in for a surprise when it responded to its first Cape stranding of the year.

The Wellfeet harbormaster notified IFAW at 9 a.m. Jan. 13 that three to four animals were stranded in water behind the Wellfleet Town Pier.

“Because that’s kind of a tricky area and at low tide there isn’t much water in that area, we geared up and headed out there to assess,” said Nicole Hunter, assistant necropsy coordinator at IFAW. “Unfortunately this happens pretty often. Cape Cod is a global hot spot for dolphin strandings.”

When the rescue team arrived, it found two dolphins swimming behind the pier and used an inflatable boat to herd them out to deeper water outside of Wellfleet Harbor.

Shortly after they got out of the water, team members were notified to report back because someone spotted another animal swimming even farther behind the pier in the outgoing tide up a creek, Hunter said.

That dolphin ended up stranding in reeds in a shallow area on the side of the creek. “At that point we decided to extract her from that area to do a good health assessment,” Hunter said.

The dolphin was taken to a nearby IFAW trailer that is outfitted to run a full examination on animals.

Because being stranded is a stressful event for animals, the IFAW team likes to give health assessments. “Also, if we were to turn around and release her right at that spot, she likely would’ve stranded again,” Hunter said.

An ultrasound was performed on the dolphin, revealing that the team had rescued not just one dolphin out of the reeds, but two. The dolphin was pregnant. VVV

“When we were doing our exam we speculated that she might be pregnant,” said Hunter, referring to the dolphin’s plump belly.

The team was unable to determine the calf’s gender, and the dolphin was brought to Herring Cove in Provincetown for release, a location IFAW often uses because of its easy access to deep water.

“We do see it occasionally,” Hunter said of the pregnant dolphin, “but it’s definitely pretty neat.”

Hunter urges anyone who sees a stranded dolphin to keep a distance and call the IFAW hotline at 1-800-932-4329.